Marietta Auto Repair

Fuel economy is on everyone’s mind right now and rightfully so. Instead of running out and purchasing a more “fuel efficient” or Electric car, lets talk about what we can do to keep you in the vehicle you have which is most likely built better then what you would replace it with, and stop you from buying an unnecessary new vehicle and putting yourself in debt. There are a lot of things that can change your fuel economy. Simple things like tire pressure can have a huge impact on fuel economy, as can a dirty air filter. Alignment can be another factor that can cost you a lot rolling down the road. If your vehicle is out of alignment, it will struggle and fight itself to go forward and burn an exorbitant amount of fuel struggling. Simple things like regular or more regular oil changes, transmission service, properly working brakes can all play a role in your fuel efficiency, a simple tune up can do wonders. Sometimes a fuel injection service and some air in the tires is ... read more

Ok let’s set the base ground of the fact I am not a scientist, a chemist, engineer, or all that smart. But what I am is a guy with a lot of experience and see a lot of stupid mistakes made by manufacturers, and other powers that be. Relying on a manufacturer to tell you that it’s time to change your oil at 7500 miles, 10000 miles, 15000 miles is about as ignorant as it gets. Especially when the weight of oil keeps going down. Essentially most of these new oils are slightly thicker then baby oil. That is NOT going to protect a combustion engine that runs at 220 degrees Fahrenheit for that long. It breaks down. The filter breaks down. The filter clogs from the wear of all the metal parts that are not getting sufficient protection. This goes with any mechanical oil including transmission fluids, and power steering fluids but I will save those for another day. They are thinning oils out to improve fuel economy. Less resistance on the pressurized oil system means its easier for ... read more

So, you’ve decided to, “drop it like its hot”. What next? Lowering your car can be done on just about any vehicle. You know this already because the barista at your local caffeine dealer, drives the same civic and he told you all about how easy it is. What that dipshit isn’t telling you is that it has horrible tire wear, it rides like a lawn mower, and people in the know are questioning his judgement. To lower a car, it is not as simple as changing a set of factory springs to lowered. When you lower a car, you change ALL the angles of the suspension. There is a lot of science that goes into suspension. You can change corner weight which can change handling and ride. Also think about things like; Do you often load it down with luggage, a bike and bike rack, kids etc. this can greatly change how the vehicle will drive lowered. That doesn’t mean you can’t you just may need to compensate for weight changes. Also don’t think that I am bashing a lowe ... read more

To lift or not to lift...Ok, you have a shinney new whatever vehicle that has the potential to go up! Should you lift it to the moon? Maybe level it out? Just leave it alone? Let's start with a few basic questions I think you should be asking yourself. Can you afford to do it? I mean sure you can afford a leveling kit for $99 but can you afford the alignment and the install. Are you going to save some bucks and you, a buddy, and a 12 pack of suds going to get it done on a Saturday afternoon and hope he knows what he’s doing? Don’t forget what goes up needs to go wide. You must compensate for raising the center of gravity by making the footprint wider. Imagine you are climbing up on stilts. You got to widen that stance to stay up. Are you going to be towing? Throw a backpack of bricks on while you're on the stilts, how does that feel? Well, that’s what it's going to do when you hook that camper up with it full of fishing gear, beer and food when you load up ... read more

What is an alignment? Merriam-Webster says, “the proper positioning or state of adjustment of parts in relation to each other”. In the automotive world, proper position is what we are talking about. The main points we are going to explain is camber, caster, and toe. There are other points to consider such as total toe, steering angle, and included angle but for our purposes that isn't necessary. We are also going to try and help you understand what to look for as possible signs you need an alignment. So, let's try to use your legs and feet to try and understand camber, caster, and toe. Imagine you are standing on a hardwood floor in some socks. If you twist on your heels pointing both feet outward away from each other that is toed out, if your feet are straight ahead that is neutral toe, and turned in pointed at each other toed in.  Now bow your knees outward, that would be positive camber, bowed inward would-be negative camber, and yep you guessed it, straigh ... read more